Sunday

Kiku Lani Iwata Reviews the Newest Roller Coasters

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: With the start of the summer amusement park season upon us, it's time to focus on roller coasters. Joining us from Los Angeles is Kiku Lani Iwata, a freelance producer for Discovery Channel, who's been producing programs about roller coasters for six years now. Kiku has a three-part special airing on Discovery tomorrow, beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Kiku, we welcome you to CNN SUNDAY.

KIKU LANI IWATA, PRODUCER, DISCOVERY CHANNEL: Hi, Andria, how are you doing?

HALL: I'm great. I'm not a big roller coaster fan, but I bet you are by now. It seems as if our appetite for thrills and danger and technology increases with every pass on a roller coaster. Why did you -- what did you discover about the human psyche and why it is we love to be scared?

IWATA: Well, we talked with a lot of experts, and actually they say that there's -- some people are genetically predisposed. There's actually some genetic research that shows that people are into thrill- seeking, and that's why they like roller coasters. Other enthusiasts will just say they just want to get out there and have fun and scream and do a lot of things they can't do at their office, which is screaming and laughing out loud.

HALL: So we like the illusion of danger, but we don't want the danger in reality?

IWATA: That's true. because the coasters are very safe, and so you can -- there are people, for instance, who maybe want to bungee jump, or people who don't want to bungee jump and feel safe in a roller coaster...

HALL: OK...

IWATA: .. and experience those extreme thrills without jumping out, maybe of an airplane.

HALL: OK, an adrenalin rush. And speaking of adrenaline rushes, we've got some video of some of the roller coasters that are very popular. The Medusa, tell us about that one.

IWATA: The Medusa is a new coaster. It's the world's first floorless coaster. And the designers, they had designed an inverted coaster which has a track overhead and it blocked the sky. This time they wanted a floorless coaster so there would be nothing blocking the sky, give you the sensation of flight. And this is what they come with, It's a big hit.

HALL: And what about the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man?

IWATA: I know, this is something that's really cool. You have to try it, Andria. It's down at Universal Studios -- actually, Universal Florida. And it's a motion simulator ride, but it's on a track and it moves. And there's 3-D effects. You wear special glasses. Three-D effects pop out at you, and there are also live effects -- steam and fire.

HALL: Kiku, there are some roller coasters that are premiering this summer, the Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Ohio. What's so special about this one?

IWATA: That's the first coaster in the world to break the 300 foot barrier. They call it a gigacoaster, which is a new term. And as you can see, it looks pretty terrifying. I haven't ridden it myself, but that first drop looks very awesome.

HALL: And lastly, Project Stealth.

IWATA: Right, and Project Stealth is a new concept. It's an idea called a flying coaster. And riders actually get to lie down in a horizontal position. That's never been done before. It's something that we're seeing in rides, new ways for people to ride the rides.

HALL: Kiko, what about the danger factor? We want the feeling of danger -- and we talked about this a second earlier -- but how dangerous in actuality are roller coasters?

IWATA: Well, the coasters that we ride and we feature in our shows, the Discovery Channel, they're pretty safe. They are pretty high, they are pretty fast. And whenever we're doing rigs and we're doing our shooting with them, we're always making sure that we're safe. And we rely a lot on the park operations and the maintenance people to keep us that way.

HALL: Kiku Lani Iwata, I think I would have to hold your hand to get on one of those.

IWATA: You should come -- That's what we have to do. You have to come out and we have to ride it together, Andria.

HALL: OK, we'll have to fly across the country. And we want to remind you that the special is airing on the Discovery Channel. That would be Monday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Hold your throats.

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